


Solo Training

by Eloarei



Series: Hunter x Hunter mini-AUs [1]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Gen, POV: Pokemon, Pokemon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-06
Updated: 2014-02-06
Packaged: 2018-01-11 09:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1171377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eloarei/pseuds/Eloarei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A persistent ghost takes an interest in Killua during a solo training session, and he's not sure why that doesn't bother him more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Solo Training

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Espurr Killua and Phantump Gon (drawing)](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/35477) by Eloarei (the person who also wrote this story). 



> Because I can't look at the pokemon Espurr without thinking of Killua, and because I like AUs.

Dad had said, “Come back after you've gained five levels,” and gone to do some training of his own, so Killua wandered off in a direction they'd never been before (because where was the challenge when you already knew what to expect?). After a while, the packed dirt path faded into an unkempt trail and he found before him a murky swamp, muddy and tangled and nothing like the clean angular city behind him. The city was where his father brought him and his brothers to train, more often than not, and he was used to the bustle of people going about their busy little lives. The city could be dark and dangerous, be a labyrinth to get lost in, which Killua thought was probably also true of this place. However, the marsh had a wild charm that felt more real, more alive.  
  
He wandered a bit, mindful of the quicksand-like mud (he might be an animal, but he didn't really like getting more dirty than was necessary), sticking to the tall greyish grasses and ferns. Another pokemon would pop out every so often and he dispatched them quickly, going on his merry way. He supposed he should look for someone who actually provided a challenge, so he ambushed a trainer he found trudging through the muck, looking lost and nervous about the long shadows of the gnarled trees overhead.  
  
“Oh, shit!” she gasped when he stepped out in front of her and gave a challenging stare and fierce cry. She laughed a little at herself and ran a hand over her face. “Ahaha, it's just a little Espurr. I guess this swamp is really getting to me. Well, he's pretty cute; maybe I'll catch him!”  
  
Killua fought back a growl. Dad had always told him not to betray his emotions to an opponent, but he didn't appreciate this girl underestimating him. And he definitely wasn't cute! He was his father's second best fighter, dammit. He'd show her.  
  
“Alright Dratini, let's go!”  
  
“Ugh, too easy,” Killua muttered, eying his prey disinterestedly, wondering if he should go easy on the poor dumb little dragonling or if he'd go for overkill.  
  
The Dratini's eyes widened when it saw him, like it could feel his bloodlust. “Mommy...!,” it whimpered, looking nervously behind it to its trainer, who just smiled encouragingly.  
  
“You can do it, Dratini. Start with a Dragon Rage!”  
  
The Dratini looked mortified, but followed its master's order, letting loose a blast of energy at Killua. He grit his teeth and took the attack head-on, skidding back an inch in the soft dirt.  
  
“That's it? My youngest brother hits harder than that on a bad day.” He decided he didn't have time to mess around with these losers, so he took a deep breath.  
  
“Please spare me!” the Dratini pleaded in a tiny voice, backing up against his trainer's legs.  
  
The girl frowned down at her pokemon. “What is wrong with you, Dratini? You can handle this little kitty!”  
  
Killua almost laughed at this girl's naivety but just shook his head and released his Disarming Cry. Dratini skittered backward but couldn't avoid the wave of energy. It gave a strangled shout when it was hit and fell sideways into the mud with a sticky splash.  
  
“Dratini!” the girl cried, rushing forward from where she'd retreated to give the creatures fighting space. She fixed her wide eyes on Killua and backed away slowly after scooping the little dragon up into her arms. He watched her retreat, disappointed. He'd really hoped they'd put up more of a fight, maybe send out someone stronger. Well, he'd gotten a decent bit of experience out of that weakling anyway, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.  
  
“Wow, you really kicked that snake-thing's butt!”  
  
Killua jumped and turned towards the voice that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere behind his shoulder. He skipped back and unsheathed his claws when he saw the little ghost-tree floating just in front of the line of tall grass a foot or so away. When the hell had it snuck up on him? Usually he noticed whenever another pokemon or human entered his range. He supposed it could be because it was a ghost, but one of his brothers was a ghost-type, so that didn't seem like a good excuse.  
  
“I've never seen one before, but it looked strong.”  
  
It drifted closer to fill in the gap Killua had created when he'd leapt back, its red eyes shining almost to the point that they looked sparkly. Its wisp of a tail swayed back and forth. It looked very much like it wasn't the slightest bit wary of the Espurr. “You must be strong,” it said, as if that fact didn't worry it.  
  
“I am,” Killua grumbled quietly, not sure what was bothering him enough to make him 'grumble' until he realized the little ghost had backed him into the mud and yet his claws had retracted almost of their own volition. He shot them back out in a hurry and locked his eyes back on the other pokemon, but it was still swaying gently and blinking its sparkly damn eyes at him.  
  
“I'm Gon,” it said. Its voice was cute and fairly high, but Killua thought it was a boy. Not that it mattered, since he was going to knock it out anyway, he reminded himself with a twitch of his claws. “I'm a Phantump. What about you?”  
  
“Killua,” he said. “An Espurr.” He backed up a little more and sidestepped as his paw landed in the gross mud with a squelch. What was this thing's problem? It didn't understand personal space, or have any sort of preservation instinct?  
  
Gon drifted closer, tail twitching and eyes shining in excitement. “Killua the Espurr, huh? You're not from the forest, are you? What are you doing here without a trainer?”  
  
“Dad sent me here to train,” he muttered, unsure exactly why he was bothering to respond when he'd come here to fight. If this Gon didn't want to fight, then he was no use to Killua.  
  
“Really? I'm training too!” He beamed at Killua and crossed his stubby little shadow arms behind his back. “Maybe we could train together?”  
  
Killua scowled. “I don't do double battles.”  
  
Gon's bright eyes drooped a little and he wiggled his tail shyly. “No? I thought it would be fun.”  
  
“Fun?” To Killua, fun was destroying an opponent as quickly as possible without any interference, seeing their fear as their realized just how strong you were. Why would he want someone slowing down the process? “What's fun about you getting in my way?”  
  
The little ghost's tuft of hair spiked up in indignation. “I wouldn't get in your way. I know this forest like the back of my hand.”  
  
The Espurr sighed, getting frustrated with the ghost's persistence. “I don't need a guide. I've always done fine on my own. I'm not gonna get lost in some stupid swamp.”  
  
“Well, okay,” Gon said, hair falling back into softer tendrils. He shrugged and drifted back a few feet, and Killua hesitantly sidestepped around to his other side until he could turn away and scamper off... with composure, of course.  
It took a few minutes for him to calm back down to his usual level, but he was mostly able to put the ghost from his mind by the time he came across his next opponent. He'd taken down the puffed-up Lucario with relative ease and laughed as he watched its trainer run away with his metaphorical tail between his legs before he noticed the Phantump floating some ways off in the shadow of a large fern. He waved cheerfully when Killua turned to scowl at him.  
  
“Good job, again! You really are as strong as I thought.”  
  
“It was nothing, idiot,” Killua insisted through his sulk. “It's just type match-ups. No way I could lose against a fighting-type. And what are you doing following me anyway?” He squared his shoulders and glared, but Gon just affected to look innocent.  
  
“This is where I live. Maybe _you're_ following _me_!” He grinned and pointed at the Espurr for emphasis.  
  
Killua's shoulders slumped and his glare dropped into disbelief. “What? That doesn't even make any sense!” He expected Gon to keep bantering with him, but the ghost didn't even seem to be paying attention anymore. He'd pulled a little makeshift fishing rod out from somewhere and was fiddling with it, ignoring Killua's attempts to argue.  
  
“Hmph.” Killua spun around and continued down the packed dirt path, decidedly not checking over his shoulder to see if Gon was looking or following. He found another trainer and took out their small team in less time and with less mercy than usual, and didn't even smile when the trainer cried. His ears did perk up though when he saw the stupid little ghost hovering behind his shoulder.  
  
After an hour or so spent defeating talentless teams and even more pathetic local creatures (honestly, what the hell was with that pancake fish? This swamp was full of losers and weirdos!), after which he still wasn't quite bored out of his mind, Killua realized that he was actually enjoying having the ghost follow him around. Every time he'd taken down an opponent with particular flourish or efficiency, and glanced back over his shoulder to see Gon floating there, he'd felt a rush of warmth and a desire to do even better the next time. It was weird, and he almost didn't like it, except that... he did.  
  
And then it sort of hit him; he was showing off! But why? Why why why? Why would he even care what any random pokemon thought of him, let alone this Gon? Maybe it was because Gon was a bit like his siblings, and that made him relate-able and familiar. But no, he really wasn't like his family at all. They all had this sense of being unapproachable, even to him. Instead, Gon seemed very easy to speak to, even given Killua's fairly reticent nature. There was just something about him. It wasn't like other pokemon weren't friendly like Gon, or found Killua impressive like Gon apparently did. Those were not unique to him.  
  
“Is something wrong?”  
  
Killua blinked. He hadn't realized he'd been just standing there in the middle of the path, staring into oblivion like an idiot. Gon came closer and drifted in lazy circles around him as he shook his head to clear it of the mess it had trailed off into.  
  
“No,” he said lightly. “Just thinking.”  
  
“'Bout what?” Gon asked, cocking his head to the side cutely.  
  
“How weird you are,” Killua answered, unsure if that was offensive or if he cared.  
  
The ghost laughed and tipped upside-down. “What's weird about me?”  
  
' _That's what I'm trying to figure out!'_ Killua thought, frustrated. Instead what he said was a somewhat exasperated, “Why are you following me?”  
  
Gon shrugged. “Why not?”  
  
“Because I'm dangerous! You saw all those other pokemon I fought!” He scoffed, annoyed almost at how Gon seemed to miss this fact. “They were all smart enough to be scared, at least, even if they weren't that strong.”  
  
Gon didn't have eyebrows, but he probably would have raised one if he had. “You don't seem very scary to me. I think you're cool!”  
  
Cool?  
  
“You think I'm cool?” Killua wasn't sure what to make of that.  
  
“Yeah!” Gon replied resolutely.  
  
Cool was a word he never heard about himself. Cool implied not just talent, but likeability. Nobody ever called him cool because by the time they noticed how talented he was, they were either running away or fainting, and in neither case likely to think him likeable. Cool was something you could only be called by someone who was the least bit familiar with you, and nobody stayed around that long, except his siblings, whose greatest praise for him was probably “respectable”.  
  
But here was this ghost, emphatically declaring that he was “cool”. It was surreal. It was exhilarating. He wanted to hear it again, and hear more words of praise, and heap his own upon the one who had given it. What a feeling. It made him shiver, and caused his heart to feel rather larger than normal, and his thoughts to jump around like static in his brain.  
  
“You're pretty okay, too,” he said eventually, words falling out of his mouth like sludge. His ears burned.  
  
Gon grinned like Killua had finally got the right answer. His tail swirled and his eyes glowed brighter. (Killua's tail twitched, but he refused to let it wag.) “So do you wanna train together?” the ghost asked again.  
  
“I guess,” Killua responded, turning to avoid the very contagious excitement in Gon's eyes. He supposed he couldn't really foreswear double battles until he'd tried them. And even if the stupid, adorable ghost couldn't carry his own weight, well, he'd said so himself, Killua was strong _and_ cool; he'd handle it.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm fairly certain I'll write at least one more part to this, but I'll probably upload it as a separate story within the series instead of another chapter, for the sake of organization and completion. Let me know if you have any suggestions for this or any other HxH AUs. =] Thanks for reading!


End file.
